Front sight for firearms



' Aug. 7, 1945.

E. M. HARVEY FRONT SIGHT FOR FIREARMS Filed Oct. 21', 1943 awe/WM EarleM. Har ve QJWMMW Patented Aug. 7, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs FRONTSIGHT FOR FIREARMS Earle M. Harvey, Springfield, Mass. ApplicationOctober 21, 1943, Serial No. 507,088

(Granted under the act oi March 3, 1883, as amended April 80, 1928; 3700. G. 157) 3 Claims.

a gas operated automatic rifle, for cleaning andrepairing at frequentintervals. Such application requires a front sight assembly which may beassembled or disassembled from the firearm with the minimum of tools andeffort and yet be capable of reassembly to the firearm in the identicalposition previously occupied in order to eliminate a realignment of thesights of the firearm or retargeting. Furthermore, for military use aremovable front sight assembly should involve a minimum of parts andshould particularly avoid small parts which may become separated fromthe assembly and lost. I 1

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedremovable. front sight for a firearm.

The particular object of this invention is to provide a removable frontsight for a firearm which. may be rapidly disassembled or assembled onthe firearm by means of asingle tool.

A further object of this invention is to provide a removable front sightfor a firearm consistin of but-four parts all of which are preassembledas a unit and cannotbe separated, thereby eliminating the possibility ofloss of any one of the parts. 7 7 Another object of this invention istoprovide a removable. front sight which. automatically locates itself inthe. same position with respect to a firearm barrel regardless of thenumber of times of successive assemblage. V

The specific nature of-the invention as'weil as other objects andadvantages thereofwillclearly appear from a description of a preferredeminvention. The front sight assembly essentially comprises a sight baseI in which are assembled I bodiment as shownin the accompanying drawinginwhieh: y Fig. 1 is anenlarged longitudinal sectional view of the sightshown mounted on a firearm barrel.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the V .piane 2-2 of Fig. 1.

--In Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown in assembled relation a front sightassembly embodying this a key 2, a screw 3, and retaining ring 4.

More specifically the sight base I comprises. a collar 5 (Fig. 2) whichmaybe slipped over the muzzle end of the barrel 6 of the firearm.Integrally formed on the top of collar 5 is a sight blade I, and on eachside of blade I are provided protective arms 88. Directly in the rear ofsight blade I, a counterbored vertical hole i3 is provided whichcommunicates with a rectangular recess i4 opening into the interior ofcollar 5.

This recess I4 may be conveniently machined thru a hole H provided inthe bottom of collar 5. A circumferential groove I0 is provided in thecounterbored portion of hole l3.

A key 2 having a rectangular body portion i5 and an integral dependingkey tongue i6 is slid- .ably mounted within the rectangular recess 14 inthe sight base i. The bottom surfaces 22 of key 2 on each side of keytongue [6 are preferably shaped to correspond to the periphery of thebarrel 6. When assembled on the barrel 6 of a' firearm the key tongue l6engages a correspondingly shaped groove I! provided in the top surfaceof barrel 6.

The key 2 is positioned within recess l4 by the screw 3, the head ofwhich rests in the counterbored portion of hole l3. groove i8 isprovided in the head of screw 3. A retaining ring I is assembled undercompression in the groove l8. When the screw 3 is inserted in hole H3 insight base i and the groove l8 aligned with groove Ill, the retainingring 4 snaps out into. engagement with the groove it and. thus serves toretain the screw 3 in fxed'position in the hole l3. The threaded end l9of screw 3 engages a threaded vertical hole 20 provided in the bodyportion l5 of key 2. The key 2 may then be raised or lowered withinrecess I! by actuation of screw 3.. A slot 2i in the head of screw 3permits actuation of the screw by a, screw- 3 driver or similar tool.The threads on screw 3 are preferably left handed inasmuch as a righthand turn of the screw 3 will then produce a tightenin of the assemblyon the barrel of the firearm.

For assembly to the barrel 6, the key 2 is raised to its highestpossible position within the recess The assembly is then ll by turningthe screw 3. slipped over the muzzle end of barrel S to the positionwhere the keytongue I8 is in alignment with the key slot 11 in thebarrel. Screw 3 is then turned toward the right and the key 2 isaccordingly forced downward until the key tongue is is firmly seated inthe keyway .II.

A circumferential It the keyway H is properly dimensioned with respectto the key tongue I 6 so that there is a snug engagement between thesetwo elements, it

- will be obvious that the sight will always be assembled in identicalposition with respect to the barrel 6. Furthermore, with thisarrangement the sight is locked in place so firmly that misalignment bythe operation of the firearm or by chance blows is eliminated.Disassembly of the sight is of course, accomplished merely by turnmescrew 3 to the left.

I claim:

1. A firearm, sight assembly comprising a bracket having an openingarranged to snugly receive a firearm barrel, a sight blade on saidbracket, said bracket having an interior recess communicating with saidopening, a key movably mounted in said recess, one, surface of said keyarranged to engage the firearm barrel, a

.screw rotatably mounted in said bracket but fixed in said bracket withrespect to linear movement, said key having a threaded hole engageableby said screw whereby rotation of said screw will advance or retractsaid key in said recess with respect to the firearm barrel.

2. The combination with a cylindrical firearm barrel having a groove inits upper side adjacent its forward end, of a front sight assemblycomprising, a sight blade bracket having an opening through which saidbarrel extends and an interior recess in communication with saidopening, a key member movably mounted in said recess of the bracket andhaving a lip seated in said groove of the barrel,- said key member beingprovided with a threaded hole, a screw rotatably mounted in said bracketand fixed in said hole with respect to. linear movement relativethereto, all adapted and arranged whereby rotation of said screw'willadvance or retract said key member in said recess with respect to saidfirearm barrel.

3. The combination with a cylindrical firearm barrel having adownwardly-extending longitudinal groove in its upper side, said groovehaving substantially flat surfaces, of a front sight assemblycomprising, a sight blade bracket having an opening arranged to snugly.receive a firearm barrel and an interior recess communicating withsaidopening, a, key movably mounted in said maria Mf HARVEY.

